I think including songs like The Love Cats, or any older Cure, would have ruined the melancholy mood of this concert completely. Obviously he's one of those "you're not a real fan unless you like their old stuff" kinda guys. Well I think the Cure did their best work from Head On the Door through Wish. I mean, their old stuff is awesome too, but in a different way. I've been a long time Cure fan, and Wish is my favorite album, and since this concert took place shortly after Wish was released, you could only expect them to focus mainly on those songs. Wish's lyrics are amazing if you've ever bothered to really read through them, so how can you criticize songs like From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, Cut or End? They're great songs. In fact, I think the song that could have been cut from here was Friday I'm In Love; I've just never been a fan. Replace that with Apart and it's a perfect concert. The biggest improvement is in A Night Like This---the guitar solo instead of the sax solo makes it a whole new song. If you're like me and Wish and Disintegration are your favorite Cure albums, you owe it to yourself to check out this live performance, it rocks.

Some reviewers might think it's edgy -or that it makes for good writing- to insult a body of work as heavy-handedly as the editorial reviewer for amazon.com did.

But now that the uninformed, self-righteous bunk is all over-- let's go ahead and tell the truth about this amazing live performance. Please keep in mind that I usually *hate* concert recordings....

With regard to the "disposable product" comment, all I have to say is this: a friend gave me this album for my birthday in 1994. I have listened to it more than once a week for a decade.

In other words, it stayed interesting through middle school, high school, college, and my first year of marriage. I listened to it this morning. I'm still finding new things to love about this album. And last time I looked, there wasn't a Fat Bob in sight.

If you love music that melds ethereal, mellow, Gibson archtop sound (a characteristic of classic New Order and Smiths) with driving pop rhythm-- buy Show. If you want a great CD for long car trips, buy it. If you want to stay calm in DC traffic at rush hour.... you get the idea.

A host of beautiful but not so well-known songs is offered with a few safe hits for good measure. If you're bored with overplayed Cure, this is a refreshing experience. If you just want the hits, well... this album is a great tool for broadening your taste. Don't ever settle for just the greatest hits.

And don't worry. Show isn't just for die-hard fans. I learned to love this band working my way back from it. I wasn't the only one.... my parents, who are 60, discovered them as well.

If you buy this performace in any format, you will not be disappointed.

Recorded live at the Auburn Palace outside of Detroit during the Cure's Wish tour, this album has the perfect blend of greatest hits and thicker, harsher, guitar-driven rock. I purchased this album while still "learning" to love the Cure and repeatedly listened to songs such as "Just Like Heaven," "Inbetween Days" and "Friday I'm in Love." Over the years I've grown to appreciate the rest of its majestic and atmospheric music--songs like "Open" and "From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea" are given brilliant treatment by the band. The album dishes out many of the songs from the Wish album and a few of their other best works, but what sets this album apart from live albums by other bands is the phenomenal energy and sound quality--most live albums are either "too stale" so that you can't even tell that there was an audience roaring in appreciation, or the sound is distorted to the extent that it sounds like a poor bootleg. Show (available on VHS with encores not on any CD) is highly recommended. It also comes with a maxi-single, Sideshow, which features songs that were omitted from the band's main set list, but you can also purchase the UK version that includes all of those songs on 2 CDs. If you like this album, consider "Paris," a live CD from the same tour, but with a very different song list.

It make me sick to think that people who clearly know nothing about the Cure are reviewing their albums for the general public. This album is a great one for those of us who love the Cure and generally enjoy live performances that don't sound exactly like the albums. The setlist is great, ranging from the poppier "Friday I'm In Love" to the more intense "Fascination Street", with classics like "The Walk" and "Just Like Heaven" thrown in for the not-quite-yet fans. The band is a little older, a little more mature, and knows a little more about what makes their music so great. This is probably also the best lineup the band has ever had. One of the things that makes the Cure so wonderful is all of the different instruments and sounds that don't quite seem like they should fit together but do beautifully. This album is no exception. Each member knows their part to play, and it comes together "just like a dream". I recommend this album especially for anyone who gets excited about live performances. It's not quite as good as actually seeing them live, but nothing is. Buy it. And while you're at it, buy every Cure album ever cut. You may soon find it's "never enough".

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FOR FANS OF THE CURE OR CUSTOMERS OF AMAZON.COM HERE ARE TRUE THOUGHTS ON THE CURE LIVE CD'S "SHOW", "SIDE SHOW", AND "PARIS". FIRST OFF IT IS FAIR TO SAY THE SOUND QUALITY OF THESE DISCS IS POOR CONSIDERING THE TECHNOLOGY THAT IS OUT THERE, BUT IF IT IS THE CURE YOU LIKE THEN THESE ARE GOOD DISCS.

"SHOW" IS A SET BUILT MORE AROUND HITS AND SONGS FROM THE "WISH" CD. "SIDE SHOW" IS A NICE COMPANION TO "SHOW" AND HAS GOOD TRACKS OF ITS OWN. "PARIS" IS DARKER AND MORE IN TUNE WITH WHAT DIE HARD CURE FANS WOULD WANT TO HEAR... AND I THINK THAT IT IS NICE FOR A BAND TO TRY TO COVER THE BASES... MAINSTREAM FANS WHO WANT TO HEAR "FRIDAY, I'M IN LOVE" ALL DAY LONG AND THE HARDCORE FANS WHO WOULD RATHER LISTEN TO "100 YEARS"... EITHER WAY THE CURE HAS DISCS FOR EVERYONE... IF ANYONE DRESSES LIKE FAT BOB OR NOT REALLY HAS NO IMPACT ON MUSIC DOES IT???

THE CURE CD SINGLE OF "PICTURES OF YOU" ALSO HAS SOME GREAT LIVE CUTS... WITH A MUCH BETTER SOUND TO IT... CHECK IT OUT IF YOU NEED MORE LIVE CURE.